New Zealand sent its biggest ever contingent of performers to the 2014 Edinburgh Festival. Over 240 stage-loving Kiwis took to the Scottish capital in August to show what amazing feats New Zealanders are capable of.

Hit productions like “The Factory” scored big points with critics and audiences alike, telling tales of estrangement from the perspective of Samoan immigrants to New Zealand. The show’s producer says that it is “a story about the difficulties and the disappointments and ultimately the redemption of being an immigrant to a new country.”

The dramatic show is hoping to come back to the UK in 2015 again with intentions to tour the country. Watch this space.

Promotional image: The Factory

Another festival show dealing with the Samoan identity looked at the implication of being gay within that culture. “Black Faggot” impressed audiences with “a parade of characters […] in a series of hilarious and poignant monologues, from a camp, closeted member of the Destiny Church to an island mama whose beloved son turns out to be gay.”

Promotional image: Black Faggot

The “NZ Edinburgh” initiative has been campaigning for two years to grow New Zealand’s presence at the massive month-long event in August and hopes to keep attracting further adventurous acts to Edinburgh in the future.